City of Basketball Love

One of the most challenging decisions Grace McDonough had to make was one she never expected to be in position to decide on in the first place.

The Lansdale Catholic senior picked up basketball as a secondary sport and didn’t think it would take her to the next level, let alone having two dozen Division I programs vying for her to join their program. It’s certainly been a rapid rise for McDonough, the forward’s game still seeming to have plenty more room to grow

McDonough announced her decision on Tuesday, committing to James Madison University and realizing something she didn’t even think was possible a few years ago.

“At JMU, after my visit, I could see myself there and it really felt like home,” McDonough said this week speaking with CoBL. “I had a really strong relationship with the coaches, which really stood out to me compared to some of the other schools and something I really valued.

“I think going to JMU will allow me to have a greater impact on the team starting in my freshman year.”

James Madison went 23-12 in the 2023-24 season, the Dukes reaching the Sun Belt championship game and making the inaugural WBIT tournament field. Dukes coach Sean O’Regan and his staff extended an offer to the 6-foot-2 McDonough in April, part of a flurry she got then, and put in plenty of time to build the relationship.

McDonough took her first visit to JMU in June and another visit earlier this month. JMU won out over Villanova and Northwestern, McDonough’s other finalists, due largely to the connection she felt with the coaching staff in Harrisonburg, VA.

“At the time, I was so overwhelmed with everything going on that I didn’t have the opportunity to look at every single individual school in depth and JMU wasn’t even one I even considered at the time, but the relationship with the coaches changed that,” McDonough said. “After I visited the first time, that’s when I knew they were at the top of my list.

“They were very engaged and kept up with everything going on with me, they went to plenty of my games - I’m not saying other coaches didn’t - but I think we just had a good connection.”

While McDonough would have been content waiting a year or two to develop and contribute as an upperclassmen with the right fit, JMU’s coaching staff not only believed she could come in right away, but fill a variety of roles. The Dukes saw her ability to play in the low or high post, along with her mobility in the halfcourt and open floor as a really strong foundation, McDonough adding that O’Regan believes she can expand her range to the three-point line and potentially play the five, four or three positions.

“It came down to the overall feel and just being able to envision myself there and developing as a player,” McDonough said. “I was very excited about JMU and I saw that as a sign that’s where I should be.”

McDonough, who spent her first two years in high school playing at Souderton before transferring to Lansdale Catholic as a junior, was deliberate in her process. She found that to be the best way after going from three offers in March to 24 by late May after the first two live periods with her Lady Runnin’ Rebels HGSL team, the forward one of the fastest rising prospects in the area over the last year.

It was overwhelming at times, McDonough saying she’s relieved to have gotten her decision finalized on the timeline she wanted, and also hard to believe. While she started playing basketball in fifth grade, she was also a soccer player and didn’t give the sport the same time and focus she has over the last two years.

“I really did not consider playing in college until the summer going into my sophomore year,” McDonough said. “My freshman year, I didn’t take basketball that seriously. I was still playing soccer and at that point, I didn’t have any offers so I’d pretty much planned that I wouldn’t be playing in college.

“Once I started getting that exposure and coaches started reaching out, that’s when I realized not only that I could play in college, but that I wanted to.”

In her first year with LC, McDonough averaged 15 points per game and close to eight rebounds per game which helped her to a first team All-PCL selection and a place on the PA Sportswriters Class 3A all-state third team. It was a fresh start as well, McDonough coming off a sophomore season that had been hampered by ankle injuries and stepping into a new team that put her in a featured role.

“I was the post player, that was my role on the team and because I started and had that development, I think coaches saw how I had grown from my sophomore year to junior year,” McDonough said. “Having that huge jump, I think coaches realized I could make that kind of development in a short amount of time.”

Her Rebels team had other posts, McDonough and Conestoga senior Janie Preston (Army) forming a solid 1-2 look in the frontcourt, but also wanted to play uptempo and run the floor. It was a different pace than LC and a chance to show different parts of her growing game.

“Our coach used us for what we were best at,” McDonough said. “They also really helped me by reaching out to coaches and initiating some of those connections for me.”

McDonough joins fellow LC seniors Sanyiah Littlejohn (George Mason) and Nadia Yemola (Kutztown) in having their college choices set and now focused on their last high school season. The Crusaders finished short of their goals last season, unable to defend their PCL title and falling short of getting back to the state playoffs to try and repeat their PIAA 4A championship, so all three senior starters have plenty of motivation.

From not even thinking about a Division I future as a high school freshman to wading through two dozen offers to find a home with the Dukes, McDonough admitted it’s been quite a journey. She thinks there’s still more room to grow and JMU is the perfect place for it to happen.

“It came down to figuring out what I wanted and what I valued,” McDonough said. “Each of the schools I was looking at had something that was great about that school. In the end, I had to decide what I valued most and it was the coaching staff and the team that proved to be that.”